I also just got off this cruise and absolutely loved it. Disney Fantasy pretty much covered almost everything. We were fortunate to have a wonderful cruise group and good weather. For the most part, I did a great job packing the right amount of clothing. The only thing extra I packed was the extra winter things such as gloves, sweater, leggings, etc. I didn't need all those and in fact I was hot in a few places such as Akureyri. I did wear shorts in Norway, but I expected Iceland to be colder based on looking up the temperatures online. Be prepared for both types of weather as the weather can change quickly and not everyone views the weather the same (it may depend on what you are used to.)
Also, search on here as there were some good travel reports from last year that I read that gave me some ideas. I also read some threads from others who were on the earlier cruise this season.
Unlike Disney Fantasy who prefers early seating, I prefer late seating with port intensive cruises. We had great service from our servers. Since it was just my husband and me, and we were ready to order when we sat down (checked out the menus on the app before dinner), we were always done in an hour. I was especially glad on our Reykjavik overnight as we got back on the ship right at 8:30 and headed right to dinner. The dining room was only partially full. The night before was our anniversary and we ate at Palo, so on the Reykjavik night our servers got a lot of the other servers to come out singing to us. It was such a memorable experience.
My husband and I enjoyed the entertainment including the ventriloquist. I really enjoyed the changes in Dreams which was the first time I had seen it in awhile as I am usually still packing. On this cruise, I packed less changes of clothes for night as I knew it would be more casual and I used packing cubes. We also used the laundry at "off" (less crowded) times.
I really liked Clayton too. He was always around and very personable. When we were in Scotland, he wore a kilt. There were lots of activities scheduled. Sometimes I had a hard time choosing as there were two activities scheduled at the same time I wanted to do. First time, I think I have ever been on a cruise with two trivias scheduled at the same time on multiple days.
I know food is subjective, but I really enjoyed all the food including the desserts. If there was ever a night in which I didn't like the selection, I always went to my favorite "go to" dessert which is a Mickey ice cream bar and I only ordered it twice. That is really good for me because I have on some cruises gotten it almost every night.
I won't talk about what I did in Norway, as I believe the 11 day has different ports than our cruise. In Iceland, I did two excursions with Disney and one with Extreme Iceland. I enjoyed all three of them. Iceland was amazing. I agree with Disney Fantasy, that it is one of those places to see in person. It is more spectacular than pictures.
In Akureyri, I did the Jewels of the North tour through Disney. I was really worried about doing this tour as those on the previous cruise complained about not liking this tour. I kept the tour despite the reviews and am glad I did. I felt like I got to see a lot of nature -- the waterfall, steam vents, the lake, etc. I didn't want to just stay in town.
On the first day of Reykjavik, my husband and I joined 10 others from our group on an Extreme Iceland Golden Circle tour. We all decided prior to the cruise we would meet in the atrium and head out together to find our shuttle. I am so glad that we did as we had a hard time finding him. There were lots of Exteme Iceland vehicles and workers when we docked, but ours was difficult to find even with other Extreme Iceland workers trying to help us. I think we were all a little uneasy at the beginning due to this. The tour did turn out well with a few off the beaten path stops that our group organizer had found and requested. We enjoyed those stops. It was a great day with a great group of people. Oh and I did see Disney Fantasy at some of the main spots as I think his tour was very similar to ours.
On the second day in Reykjavik, I did Snorkeling into the Blue which was a Disney excursion. Since we were doing a long tour on the first day, I wanted something more adventuresome for the second day. Even before I signed up for this cruise, I knew I wanted to do this excursion. I thought it sounded so cool and I completely researched it by reading reviews online of snorkeling at silfra fissure. I also read a trip report on the Dis from someone who did this last year. I messaged her to ask questions and I am glad I did. She was so helpful. I was nervous about doing this excursion, (and became even more so when we received a waiver along with the tickets in our stateroom).
We were in a group of only 14 passengers on this tour. My husband and I were the only ones who were prepared with what we wore as the Disney description leaves out that you should wear heavy socks, long johns/leggings/underarmour,or some kind of layer under the layer and dry suit they give you to wear. Half the people in our group weren't even wearing socks. The workers were surprised how unprepared those in our group were with what they were wearing to go under the suit. Disney used Dive.is although there are other companies that offer this. I know we could have tried to book this directly, but I preferred to do this particular tour through Disney.
I am so glad I did this tour. It was an unique experience to snorkel between two continents in the clearest water. The guides did a good job suiting everyone up and explaining what to do. It took a lot longer to suit up than you actually spend in the water. I was never cold in the 37 degree Fahrenheit water. There are no fish to see, just the rock formations. The water is glacier water and they tell everyone to take a sip. I only got nervous once, when the person in front of me kicked the snorkel out of my mouth and I got water in it. My husband had a little trouble with water in his mask at the beginning which made him nervous. But the issues were quickly resolved. From time to time, I would peek up out of the water to make sure I was going the right way, because when I was looking straight down in the water, it was hard to keep track of where I was going.
We had two stops in Scotland, but I think Invergordon is the only one on the 11 day. I had been to Invergordon previously on a cruise so I was looking for a tour similar to one I had done previously for my husband who had never been there. I couldn't find any Disney tours that were exactly what I wanted so I originally picked one that offered some of what I wanted to see. I mentioned this in my group meet and was recommended by someone to look at the Wow Scotland tour they were doing. It was a regular full size bus, but it stopped in the places I most wanted to see together on one tour - Cullodin Battlefield, Cawdor Castle and Loch Ness (not by Urquhart Castle, but I had already been there so it didn't matter to me), and a few more stops. It was a great tour and the guide was by far my favorite (the owner of the company). I was really glad I didn't do the Disney excursion here.
Hope this helps and if you choose this cruise, I hope you have a great time.
